May 23, 2006

Commercial Construction

U.S. firm to build Montreal tower

IRWIN RAPOPORT

correspondent

MONTREAL

Montreal’s downtown core will soon have a unique addition to its portfolio with the construction of a 28-storey office tower in which parking floors will serve as a podium for office space.

Hines, a Houston-based multi-national property developer, is behind the project. The property currently serves as a parking lot.

Known as 900 de Maisonneuve West, the building will consist of one level of underground parking and nine levels of above ground parking (658 parking spots in total).

A relatively new approach to construction in Montreal, the parking levels serve as a podium for 17 storeys of office space. The structure will comprise of 400,000 square feet of office space.

HINES

A rendering of a new office tower to be constructed in Montreal in which above ground and underground parking levels serve as a podium for the office space above.

The architectural team consists of two internationally recognized firms: Connecticut-based Pickard Chilton Architects and Montreal-based Menkes Shooner Dagenais Letourneux.

John Pickard, who has designed many buildings for Hines, provided the design for the Petronas twin towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“Having the parking serve as a podium for office floors is a new strategy to Montreal, but one in which Hines is very experienced, having built similar projects in other cities,” said Terry Fraser-Reid, Hines’ Montreal project manager. “This way, all office floors are above the surrounding low-rise historic buildings.

“To the south, towards the St. Lawrence River, is Simon’s, and across Metcalfe is Les Ceours Montreal,” he added.

“The podium allows all of our office floors to have a clear view above the buildings to the south and the west. Otherwise, office floors would be looking directly into the side of a low-rise building and those floors would simply not be leasable.”

Fraser-Reid described the office tower a “contemporary design” with its primary focus to provide “a great home for the businesses that occupy it, providing state-of-the-art systems from the curtain wall glass to electrical systems.”

Construction costs are still being worked out, and tenders for a general contractor will be called in the near future.

Hines is currently searching for a major tenant to initiate the construction process.

“We’re going to get this project built,” said Fraser-Reid. “It will take about eight months to complete the design and another 24 months to build.

“We have taken the design to a certain level and we will work hand-in-hand with the major tenant to complete it in a way that incorporates everything they need.”

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